Orange women power past Scarlet Knights

January 13, 2010, 11:47PM

The Syracuse Orange women recorded their most resounding victory of the season Wednesday night, pounding back at a physical Rutgers team for a 79-66 win in the Carrier Dome.

The Orange overcame the Scarlet Knights’ 40-to-20 points advantage in the paint by converting 34-of-41 free throws – most the results of fouls committed by Rutgers on SU’s power moves to the basket.

"Our players just competed, and this is all them," SU coach Quentin Hillsman said. "They did everything I asked them to do for the entire game … To shoot 80 percent (82.9) from the free-throw line, that was the game because they (Rutgers) were very physical."

With the victory, Syracuse improved to 15-1 overall for the first time in program history and 2-1 in Big East play. It was the team’s second straight victory over Rutgers (10-7, 2-1), having also knocked off the Knights last year in the Dome.

Challenged by Hillsman to lead the way, Syracuse senior Nicole "Slinky" Michael had a team-best 16 points, while nine other players also scored for the Orange. Freshman Kayla Alexander had 13 points and Erica Morrow and Juanita Ward each had 10, with Ward’s all coming from the foul line with a 10-for-10 effort. Former Liverpool star Tyler Ash also had a big game, contributing nine points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.

Rutgers countered with four of its five starters scoring in double figures. Rashidat Junaid had 16, Myia McCurdy had 14, Brittany Ray had 12 and Khadijah Rushdan had 10, but the Knights’ bench was outscored 34-12.

Using a suffocating full-court press, Rutgers jumped out to an early 8-1 lead before Hillsman called a timeout.

After reminding his team that the Knights were using same press scheme that they had seen in an overtime loss to Georgetown and a rout of Seton Hall, the Orange responded with a burst of energy, quicker passes and accurate shooting.

The result was a 33-10 run that pushed SU into the lead by 16 points, 34-18, at the 4:12 mark. The blitz was highlighted by five 3-pointers, including two by Erica Morrow, and two strong passes underneath to Alexander and Ash.

At halftime, with his team having made 50 percent of its shots, Hillsman said he warned his players that the Knights would charge back. They did, cutting the lead down to one, at 42-41 within the first four minutes.

Again, Syracuse regained its composure and resumed pounding the ball inside. It resulted in 18 second-half fouls being called on Rutgers and 31 trips to the line for the ‘Cuse. SU converted 26 of them after intermission to steadily pull away.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer was reluctant to blame the foul-shot disparity on the loss, but did point out that it was the most free throws taken against her team this year. (Texas shot 39 and Tennessee 33).

"What can you do?" she said. "I mean, 41 free throws? That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. So this is real good. I know that Syracuse is good, but they’re real good on this. Real good. (We have) 14 foul shots and we only hit 10. We have to hit all our foul shots, if you know what I mean. But praise be to the officials. They weren’t at fault. We just did not play well today."

She blamed the loss more on the inconsistency of her team’s play and the choices the players made on the court. Even though they were winning the battle in the paint, they still attempted 19 3-pointers, making only two from long range.

"It’s bad enough when we can’t shoot, but we also can’t think," she said. "And that’s really bad. … We can be SS at times, real Super Stupid."

Syracuse now heads on the road for three straight Big East games, visiting South Florida on Saturday before taking trips to Providence and Louisville. It’s next home game will be Jan. 27 against St. John’s.

Note: The victory helped Syracuse beat Rutgers in football and men’s and women’s basketball for the first time in the same season since 2001-02.

Orangepopo:
SU had 24 turnovers to 18 for Rutgers. At times, the 'Cuse was bothered greatly by the Scarlet Knights' fullcourt pressure, leading to at least half of those miscues. Several more were the result of bad, telegraphed passes. Turnovers will remain an area of concern as the season progresses, however, SU had a lot of positives last night against a very physical opponent. ... P.S. ... A link to the Box Score is now attached to the bottom of the game story. Double P.S. ... Did you get a chance to attend the game?
--Chris Wagner

I live in Orlando, Fl so I could only watch the game on Orange all access. I am going to Tampa to see them play USF this Saturday. I also caught the men against the Gators there last year in the SEC/Big East Classic (awesome :) ). Anytime SU comes to the state of Florida I travel to see them.

I noticed last night that RU was very physical and really had some strong atheletes. That was a very good win for the women.

Being a '91 SU grad, I've always wondered why the women's program lagged so far behind the men's but it looks like Q is turning things around. I think some people underestimate how good for SU it would be if the women's program could become a powerhouse like UCONN or TENN. Isn't Q's incoming class next year ranked in the top 10?

Orangepopo:
Nice to hear you'll be able to see the Orange women on Saturday. Wish I could be there, too, but no room in the P-S travel budget. Let us know what you think. SU lost to the Bulls (Lady Bulls?, hmmm, something doesn't seem right there) last year in the Dome and needs to avenge that loss. Indeed, the upcoming three-game road trip may be the most important stretch of the season for the Orange. They need at least two road wins against USF, Providence and Louisville to offset tough home games vs. UConn, Notre Dame and West Virginia. ...

... As for next year's incoming class, yes it has been ranked in the top 10 by two sites (here's the link to my previous story:

Will such improvement help SU become a dual power in basketball like UConn? Perhaps. But it will take time to attract the rabid support that you see for the Lady Huskies, Vols, Cardinal and Irish. Oddly, encased by foul weather, Syracusans are a peculiar brand of fair-weather fan. Being from Ohio, I'll never fully understand them. There was an announced crowd of 889 for the Rutgers game. I only needed half as many fingers and toes to add up the real tally. More wins will certainly result in more butts in the Dome, but I doubt it will ever reach five figures (though 5,000 would be nice for UConn and N.D.)
--Chris Wagner